Draw-bench.



G. W. FROHLICH. DRAW BENCH.

APPLIUATION FILED MAR.'11, 1914.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

jfiuezpfar THE NORRIS PETERS CO FHOTC-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C.

G. W. PROHLIGH.

DRAW BENCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 191-4.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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$ 7 4 M uwa Ja e/nib NORRIS PETERS 60.. PHOTO-LITHG WASHINL TON. n c.

barren strains Parana cannon.

GEORGE W. FROI-ILIOI-I, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DRAV-BENOH.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. FRonLIcH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Draw- Benches; and I do hereby declare that the following description of my said invention, taken in connection with the accompanying sheet of drawings, forms a full, clear, and exact specification, which will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to draw benches for passing a continuous strip of metal or other bendable substance through a die for shaping or forming it into various shapes, and has for its object to provide a machine of this character which will be simple in construction and positive in its action.

The present invention is particularly designed for use in connection with the dies forming the subject matter of my co-pending application filed February 13, 1914, Se rial No. 818,528.

With the above and other objects in view, this invention consists in the construction,

' combination and arrangement of parts all as hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed in the accompanying sheets of drawings wherein Figure 1 is a side elevation of a draw bench construction in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan View thereof. Fig. 3 is a plan view of the grapple which draws the material through the dies. Fig. 4 is a side elevation thereof partially in section. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary side elevation of a modified form of the machine, the modification residing in the track for the grapple and the mechanism for controlling the latter. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of a detail of construction.

Like parts are designated by corresponding characters or symbols of reference in all the figures of the drawing.

For purposes of this invention the stock or metal is manufactured in a continuous strip on a roll and is fed through dies of any suitable construction preferably those illustrated and described in my aforesaid application. The present invention is designed to engage the strip of material as it Specification of Letters Patent.

passes from the dies and exert a constant pull thereon to draw it through said dies. Referring more particularly to the drawmg 10 indicates a table or bench, the top 11 of which is provided with a longitudinal slot 12. A drive shaft 13 is located under one end of the bench and an idler shaft 14 at the other end. These shafts are each pro vided with a sprocket 15 over which oper- Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

Application filed March 11, 1914. Serial No. 823,983.

ates a chain belt 16 driven in the direction" dies perpendicularly. The strip of material leaves the dies in this position and must be gripped at its terminal anddrawn com-' pletely through the same. To accomplish this a grapple is provided which grips the strip of material and by its engagement with the moving chain belt 16 draws the same through the dies. This grapple comprises a pair of serrated jaws 21 which engage the strip of material. The jaws are pivoted together medially of their ends as at 22 and have their non-gripping ends pivoted to the links 23, said links having their free terminals pivotally connected by a pin 24 forming a handle. It is manifest that this structure constitutes a lazy tong which will act to cause the jaws 21 to grip when a pull is exerted upon the links 23. This grip is accomplished either by the handle. 24: or by the chain'16. A hook 25 is provided under the handle 24, and is adapted to engage a link of the chain .16 through the slot 12. The movement of the chain in the direction of the arrow Fig. 1 exertsa pull through the hook 25 on the links 23, ther'eby moving the gripping ends of the jaws 21 together. fter the jaws 21 have gripped the protruding end of the strip of material the movement of the chain 16 on the grapple draws the said strip through the dies aforesaid.

In order to release the grapple and return it automatically to the die end of the machine a super-structure 26 is provided. An

upwardly inclined track 27 is mounted on this super-structure in direct vertical alinement with the chain 16. This track is curved upon itself, away from the bench 10, at the power end thereof, as at 28 and slopes or inclines downwardly to form a return track 29, which terminates under the level of the bench 10, adjacent to the dies A and B, Fig. 1. The portion 27 of the track alined with the chain 16 inclines upwardly, and is pro vided at its terminal with the guide 30 and at the curve 28 with the guide 31.

The grapple carries a tube 32 in which is mounted for reciprocation a plunger 33 carrying a wheel 34, grooved to receive the track aforesaid. This plunger is acted upon by a retractile spring 35 (Fig. 4) which is interposed between the lower terminal of the same and the base of the tube 32. The wheel 34 is so positioned that as the grapple moves along the bench said wheel, with the aid of the guide 30 engages the track 27 and rides up. the incline thereof. As the wheel 34 rides up on the track 27 the plunger is withdrawn from the tube and the spring 35 placed under tension. The passage of the wheel 34 around the curved portion 28 of the track is aided by the guide 31.

The movement of the wheel 34 up the in clined portion 27 of the track by placing the spring 35 under tension creates a tendency to lift the grapple from the bench, which is prevented by the channel guides 36, one on each side of the slot 12 and which extend throughout the entire length of the inclined portion 27 of the track and terminate at approximately the rear post 26. These guides are a precautionary measure and cooperate with the lugs 37 carried by the nongripping ends of the jaws 21. After the material is gripped in the jaws 21 the pull of the chain 16 will retain said jaws in this position until the teeth 15 on sprocket 15 forces the hook 25 out of contact with said chain. This takes place at a point perpendicular to the center or axis of the sprocket and after the lugs 37 have passed beyond the guides 36. As soon as the hook 25 is thus forced from the chain, the spring 35 acts, and inasmuch as the wheel 34 cannot leave the track by virtue of the combined action of the guide 31 and the track 27, the spring will move the grapple upwardly, free of the bench. As the chain is disengaged, the links 23 and the jaws 21 will release the strip of material. A projection 38 is formed on the track between the upwardly inclined portion 27 and the downwardly curved portion 28 which prevents the grapple from returning down said inclined portion 27 of the track. The curved portion 28 and the return track 29 being inclined, the grapple will gravitate to the feed or die end of the bench and may be replaced upon the bench ready for another grip upon the strip of material.

In the modified form illustrated in Fig. 5 the grapple is carried by the upwardly inclined portion 27 to the curved portion 28 of the track by a power driven Wheel or disk 38. This wheel or disk is keyed to a vertical shaft 39, at the power end of the bench, to the lower end of which is secured a beveled gear 40. The drive shaft 13 is carried by bearings 13 and has a bevel gear 41, which meshes with beveled pinion 40, whereby the shaft 39 and disk 38 are rotated. A plurality of spring actuated pins 42 radiate from the disk 38 and are adapted to engage the plunger 33 of the grapple and carry it along the track thereby preventing any retrograde action. l/Vhile the peripheral speed of the pins 38 is the same as the speed of the chain 16, and the parts of the mechanism so arranged as to release the grapple at approximately the same point each successive time, ready to be engaged by one of the pins 42; yet sometimes there is enough variation in the point of release to prevent the said pin from engaging the grapple at the rear thereof and push it along the rail 28, but will give the plunger 33 a glancing push, thereby often causing derailment of the same. For this reason the pins 42 are retreatably arranged in disk 38, being acted upon by springs 42 so that instead of derailing the grapple, the pin will retreat in a manner easily comprehended.

"While herein I have disclosed the preferred method of practising my invention, I may make such changes and alterations therein as might occur to the skilled mechanic or permitted under a liberal application of the doctrine of mechanical equivalents.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention I claim as new and desire to secure to myself by Letters Patent of the United States 1. The combination with dies, of a grapple, means for moving the grapple away from said dies, and means causing its release from said moving means, and its automatic return to a point approximating but below its original position.

2. The combination with a grapple, of means for moving it in one direction, devices releasing said grapple from said moving means and means for automatically causing its travel in the opposite direction.

3. The combination with a grapple, means for moving said grapple in a substantially horizontal plane, and means for removing the same from said plane and returning it to approximately its starting locality.

4. The combination with a traveling grapple arranged to engage materials and operate in a substantially horizontal plane during such engagement, and means for releasing the grapple and changing its direction of travel.

5. The combination with a grapple arranged to engage materials and traveling means therefor adapted to operate in a substantially horizontal plane during such engagement, a track cooperating therewith for releasing the material and said grapple from said traveling means and reversing the direction of travel of said grapple.

6. The combination with a grapple arranged to engage materials and traveling means therefor adapted to operate in a substantially horizontal plane during such engagement, and means for elevating said grapple from said plane to release the material engaged and said grapple from said traveling means and to reverse the direction of travel of said grapple.

7. The combination with a traveling grapple arranged to engage materials and operate in a substantially horizontal plane during such engagement, and means for elevating said grapple from said plane to release the material engaged, and to permit said grapple to gravitate to approximately its original position.

8. The combination with a track inclined upwardly and curved upon itself and having its curved end inclined downwardly, of a grapple adapted to operate upon said track.

9. The combination with an upwardly inclined track, of a grapple cooperating therewith, and means for releasing said grapple at the end of said inclined track.

10. The combination with a chain drive, a grapple arranged to be moved in a horizontal plane in one direction by said chain, and a track cooperating with said grapple for automatically returning it in the opposite direction. 1

11. The combination with a chain drive, a grapple arranged to be moved in a horizontal plane in one direction by said chain, a track cooperating with said grapple curved upon itself to return said grapple in the opposite direction, and means for releasing said grapple for its return movement.

12. The combination with a chain drive, a grapple arranged to be moved in a horizontal plane in one direction by said chain, a track, and means adapted to be set by said track for releasing said grapple from the chain at the end of its horizontal and forward movement.

13. The combination with a chain drive, a grapple arranged to be moved in a horizontal plane in one direction by said chain, a track inclined upwardly and rebent and inclined downwardly and means carried by the grapple arranged to be set by the upwardly inclined portion of the track to release the grapple from the chain and remove it from the horizontal plane.

14. The combination with a chain drive, a grapple arranged to be moved in a horizontal plane in one direction by said chain, a track inclined upwardly and rebent and inclined downwardly and means carried by the grapple arranged to be set by the upwardly inclined portion of .the track to release the grapple from the chain and remove it from the horizontal plane and permit the same to operate upon the downwardly inclined portion of the track.

15. The combination with a traveling grapple adapted to engage materials while traveling in one direction of a track cooperating therewith causing the release of said material and reversing the direction of travel of said grapple.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE W. FROHLIOH.

In the presence of-- M. I. LoRDINe, W. O. STARK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

